Narapati of Mrauk-U
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Narapati of Mrauk U ( rki, နာရပတိ (မြောက်ဦး)); whose personal name Nga-Kuthala ( rki, ငကုသလ), was a king of the Mrauk-U Dynasty of
Arakan Arakan ( or ) is a historic coastal region in Southeast Asia. Its borders faced the Bay of Bengal to its west, the Indian subcontinent to its north and Burma proper to its east. The Arakan Mountains isolated the region and made it accessi ...
. He was a great-grandson of
Min Bin Min Bin ( Arakanese and my, မင်းဘင်, , Arakanese pronunciation: ; also known as Min Ba-Gyi (မင်းဗာကြီး, , Meng Ba-Gri, Arakanese pronunciation: ); 1493–1554) was a king of Arakan from 1531 to 1554, "whose re ...
.


Ascent to the throne

Prior to his predecesor Min Sanay's ascension, King Thiri Thudhamma had inadvertently elevated the importance of the ''Laungkrakca'', the governor of
Launggyet Launggyet ( my, လောင်းကြက်မြို့ ) is a former capital of the Launggyet Dynasty of Arakan from 1237/1251 to 1430. It is also last capital of Laymro Kingdom. The former capital site is located a few miles northwest of ...
. At the time of his death and Sanay's ascension, Narapati was the ''Laungkrakca'' and was vying for power within the royal court. When Sanay died from
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
, Narapati seized the throne for himself with the help of Sane's mother Nat Shin Mae- who also happened to be his lover. He then bore the title of Narapati which means "Lord of the people". To secure his accession, Narapati murdered many royal relatives and nobles, causing targeted survivors to flee to Chittagong. Historian
Jacques Leider Jacques Pierre Leider (; born 1862) is a French and Luxembourgian historian, teacher and former diplomat. He is known for his historical research on Burma/Myanmar, particularly pre-colonial Buddhism, the history of Arakan, today called Rakhine, ...
ascribes the mysterious death of Thiri Thudhamma and Sanay as a
coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
by Narapati. Narapati was coronated on 3 July 1638. Soon after in September 1638, his claim to the throne was challenged by the "King of Chittagong".
Arakanese chronicles The royal chronicles of Myanmar ( my, မြန်မာ ရာဇဝင် ကျမ်းများ ; also known as Burmese chronicles) are detailed and continuous chronicles of the monarchy of Myanmar (Burma). The chronicles were written o ...
identify this pretender as Ngatunkhin, a son of Thiri Thudhamma. Contemporary Mughal sources identified him as a brother of Narapati by the name of Mangat Rai. Narapati detached a military force lead by his chief bodyguard and pushed the Chittagonian rebellion into Mughal territory. There, Ngatunkhin/Mangat Rai set up a base of operations by December 1639. The kingdom remained unstable with fears of a Mughal invasion or rumours of a restoration of the old royal house.


Reign

In Narapati's reign, the military might of Mrauk U began to dwindle. However, one of the achievements of Narapati was that he established diplomatic ties with Ava in 1640. He did not maintain good relations with the Dutch for trade. Narapati did not feel the need to adopt a Muslim name like his predecessors, which was a tradition for Arakanese kings who had control of Chittagong. Thus, the coins minted in his reign omitted the '' Kalima'' and the
Persian script The Persian alphabet ( fa, الفبای فارسی, Alefbâye Fârsi) is a writing system that is a version of the Arabic script used for the Persian language spoken in Iran (Iranian Persian, Western Persian) and Afghanistan (Dari, Dari Persi ...
altogether. In December 1643, the new governor of Chittagong rebelled, taking a large group of Portuguese mercenaries with him into Mughal territory. Narapati sent substantial army to quell the rebellion, led by his right hand man since he was unable to walk due to illness. This expedition pillaged Chittagong bringing back 80,000 people - mostly
weavers Weaver or Weavers may refer to: Activities * A person who engages in weaving fabric Animals * Various birds of the family Ploceidae * Crevice weaver spider family * Orb-weaver spider family * Weever (or weever-fish) Arts and entertainmen ...
-- and several tens of thousands of cattle. This effectively destroyed the importance of Chittagong as a trade centre and created deep division in Arakan as the
Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
and various nobles protested the move. The sceptics of the king's plan were eventually proven correct as the resettled craftsmen were decimated by a
famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompani ...
in 1645 caused by the sudden change in population, effectively destroying Arakan's
textile industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of yarn, cloth and clothing. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry. Industry process Cotton manufacturi ...
as well. The king ruled until his death in December 1645, with his son Thado succeeding him.


References

*A history of rakhineland in brief By Aung Hla Thein *New arakanese chronicle By Ven. Candamālālaṇkāra {{authority control Monarchs of Mrauk-U 17th century in Burma 17th-century Burmese monarchs 1645 deaths